Trends in Wireless Technology

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Jul 19, 2005

Wireless Technology Industry Report

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Wireless Technology Industry Report (2005-06)

*The forecast where a technology will be on the future of wireless LAN

*The current level of wireless technology

*The development of wireless networking

*The influence on the future of wireless LAN

*The trend of the time of wireless networking

Background

In June, 1997 the IEEE, the body that defined the dominant 802.3 Ethernet standard, released the 802.11 standard for wireless local area networking. IEEE 802.11 standard supports transmission in infrared light and two types of radio transmission within the unlicensed 2.4GHz frequency band: Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) and Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS).

The followings are development of wireless standards:

Local Area Networks (IEEE 802)

Wired Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)

Wireless Ethernet (IEEE 802.11)

High Rate Wireless Ethernet (IEEE 802.11b)

Mode 2.4 GHz/54 Mbps Wireless Ethernet (IEEE 802.11g)

5 GHz Wireless LAN/WAN (IEEE 802.11a)

Wireless Personal Area Network (IEEE 802.15)

Fixed Broadband Wireless Access (IEEE 802.16)

European 5 GHz/54 Mbps WAN (HiperLAN2)

Short Distance Device Interconnectivity (Bluetooth);

HomeRF Wireless LAN

Wide Band Frequency Hopping (WBFH)

Current Technology

The most sparkling stars of wireless networking technology today is IEEE 802.11b.The 802.11b wireless networking has enjoyed a rapid increase in adoption in enterprise settings and in educational and institutional networks. More recently, particularly in the past year as adapter and access point prices have lowered dramatically, 802.11b wireless network products have been making inroads into home and SOHO applications. Initially, the demand for 802.11b in the home was driven by people who used a wireless-equipped notebook computer at work, and then took it home and wanted the same freedom from wired connection there too. As prices for wireless components came down, and as home networking to share broadband Internet connections increased, 802.11b was and still is the go-to choice, even in households to which no one comes home with a wireless-enabled notebook from work.

Development of wireless technology

The interference and performance issues at 2.4-GHz have the wireless LAN industry headed for the open 5-GHz frequency band, where the opportunity exists for a much cleaner wireless networking environment. Similar to the 2.4-GHz band, the 5-GHz spectrum does not require a license for use throughout much of the world. In addition, 5-GHz is void of interference from microwaves and has more than twice the available bandwidth of 2.4-GHz, thereby allowing for higher data throughput and multimedia application support. The open 5-GHz spectrum offers an opportunity for the industry to create a unified wireless network for a broad range of devices and applications. IEEE 802.11a and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) HiperLAN2 wireless LAN standards. This 5-UP (5-GHz Unified Protocol) proposal supports interoperability with the existing standards, while providing for increased scalability both up and down. Whereas the IEEE 802.11a and ETSI HiperLAN2 wireless standards support 6 to 54Mbps, 5-UP allows devices to operate from 128Kbps to 108Mbps in 128Kbps increments. With 5-UP enhancements, a wide range of devices-stretching from low to high data rates-can all communicate on a single wireless network. Everything from cordless phones to high-definition televisions and personal computers can communicate on the same multipurpose network under a single unified protocol.

Intel Corporation integrated, "wireless-Internet-on-a-chip" technology could enable a new era of wireless Internet-access products with extensive battery life and greater processing power. The new research chips feature logic (microprocessor), flash memory and analog communications circuits on a single piece of silicon built using a single manufacturing process. Each of these types of circuits is traditionally manufactured on separate process technologies in different factories. Chips produced on the new process may be up to five times more powerful than those used in today.

Could mundane wireless local area networks (WLANs) eat into the profit potential of flashier third-generation (3G) mobile carriers? A flurry of reports this week

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